Method of surface treating discontinuous sheet materials

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus for treating discontinuous sheets such as animal hides. The hide is placed on a moving conveyor. At least one pair of elements are arranged to rotate above the conveyor and in a horizontal plane with respect to it. The elements are arranged on axes which are in tandem along the edge of the conveyor and the elements are moved to engage the hide in a sector of a circle the beginning of which lies along a line normal to the direction of movement of the conveyor and has a path extending arcuately to the peripheral edge of the conveyor. The elements at the front of the conveyor rotating in the direction of movement of the conveyor while that in the rear in the opposite direction.

.ianirek et al.

3,822,572 July 9, 1974 METHOD OF SURFACE TREATING DISCONTINUOUS SHEETMATERIALS Inventors: Vladislav Janirek, Gottwaldov;

Zdenek Miculka, Oktrokovice; Jan Duba, Halenkovice, all ofCzechoslovakia Assignee: Statni vyzkummy ustav kozedelny,

Gottwaldova, Czechoslovakia Filed: May 31, 1973 Appl. No'.: 365,575

Foreign Application Priority Data July 13, 1972 Czechoslovakia 4958-72US. Cl. 69/39 Int. Cl C14b 1/14 Field of Search 69/39, 41, 44, 40;15/102,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1877 Ford et al. 69/39 x1,704,196 3/1929 Jones 69/44 2,635,653 4/1953 Hennell... l5/77 X2,948,087 8/1960 Caton l5/77 X Primary Examiner-Alfred R. GuestAttorney, Agent, or Firm--Murra.y Scha'ffer [57] ABSTRACT Method andapparatus for treating discontinuous sheets such as animal hides. Thehideis placed on a moving conveyor. At least one pair of elements arearranged to rotate above the conveyor and in a horizontal plane withrespect to it. The elements are arranged on axes which are in tandemalong the edge of the conveyor and the elements are moved to engage thehide in a sector of a circle the beginning of which lies along a linenormal to the direction of movement of the conveyor and has a pathextending arcuately to the peripheral edge of theconveyor. The elementsat the front of the conveyor rotating in the direction of movement ofthe conveyor while that in the rear in the opposite direction.

7 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTED 91974 3,822,572

sum 3 or 3 BACKGROUND OF INVENTION The present invention relates to amethod of surface treatment of discontinuous or defined pieces of sheetmaterial, and in particular toa method and apparatus for working leatherhides and the like.

Apparatus for the surface treatment of leathers, particularly in hideform, employ machines with wide tools which are caused to engage thesurface of the hide from side to side. Such tools as drum knives, dullscraper bars, or polishing rollers, are generally arranged to extendacross the width of the material in an attempt to treat the entiresurface of the material in one sweep of the tool. Because the thicknessof the leather hide is non-uniform, particularly having a thick backportion extending centrally from the head to the hind ends, wide workingtools do not function as efficiently as would be desirable. The hidemust generally be subjected toafter treatments such as for instancesetting out, stretching, and pressing the hide in order to obtain thedesired uniformity of thickness in the finished leather piece. Suchafter treatment adds to the cost and complexity of the treatment processand is both laborious and cumbersome requiring considerable effort.Often manual manipulation of portions of the leather is required addinga dangerous aspect to the process.

The manual spreading of hides has been replaced by the so-called"automatic through-put spreading. This new technique has raisedtheproductivity in the treatment of sheet materials. In treating sheetmaterials of a continuous form, spreading brushes may be used having arectilinear or even a rotational movement. When applied to the treatmentof leathers having very irregular shape, numerous problems may result.For example, not only are the edges of the leather material subject tofolding but the very irregular peripheral parts of the hide may be tornor ripped from the main body of the hide. This is particularly true withthe rather long leg portions of the hide. Even under the most favorableconditions for this continuous process the coat surface of theperipheral portions of the hide remain improperly spread duringtreatment.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a method and anapparatus for the surface treatment of discontinuous sheet materials, inparticularly leather hides, which overcome the disadvantages of theprior devices.

It is the object of the present invention to provide apparatus andvmethod by which the surfact treatment of leather hides can be made sothat a more uniform treatment occurs, and wherein the non-uniformthickened portions of the hide may be treated to provide for a moreuniform thickness of the finished product.

his a further object of the present invention to provide a method andapparatus wherein the surface treatment of leather hides may besimplified and speeded up so that increased productivity may be obtainedwhile simultaneously reducing the laborious and cumbersome manualhandling of the leather hide.

The foregoing objects, others, as well as numerous advantages of thepresent invention will be seen from thefollowing disclosure of thepreferred embodiment.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION According to the present invention a method andapparatus is provided for the work of discontinuous sheet material suchas animal hides wherein the animal hide is placed on a lineally movingconveyer and is contacted by working elements tandemly arranged alongthe side of the conveyer which rotate in opposite direction aboutindividual axes of rotation perpendicularly disposed with the surface ofthe conveyer. The working elements are caused to move' in an operatingpath wherein they'engage the surface of the hide in an area defined by asector of a circle, the beginning of which is located along a linenormal to the direction of movement of the conveyer and in a path whichextends arcuately toward the peripheral edge of the conveyer. Theforward element of the tandem pair rotates in a direction correspondingto the movement of the conveyer while the rear element of the tandempair rotates oppositely thereto.

Preferably two pair of tandemly arranged working each of the sides ofthe conveyor. The forward elements of each of the tandem pair as well asthe rear elements are aligned with respect to each other along a linewhich is normal to (or perpendicular to) the direction of movement ofthe conveyer. The respective elements in each of the tandem pairs isrotated in direc tions contrary to those of the corresponding elementsinthe opposed tandem pair. Consequently, each of the elements engagesthe surface of the hide in a circular sector beginning from within themajor portion of the hide directed either forwardly'or rearwardly to theperipheral portions thereof.

Furthermore, the working elements are of such a length, and their axesof rotation are arranged at selected positions so that their sweepextends in .overlapping areas, along the axial center of the conveyer aswell as in a transverse area between the forward and rear elements, sothat the more thickened portion of the hide will be worked byoverlapping'working elements. Full details of the present invention areset forth in the following description and are shown in the accompanying drawings.

' BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings FIG. 1 is a planview of the present I DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The methods forworking the sheet material according to the present invention will bedescribed initially with reference only to some of the means necessaryfor earring it out.

Turning now to FIG. 1 a discontinuous sheet such as an animal hide Iwhich is to be converted to leather, is

placed on the surface of an endless belt conveyor 2. The conveyor ismounted in conventional manner to advance continuously in the forwarddirection shown by the arrow A. Suitable devices such as drive rollers,

merals 3, 4, 5 and 6. The devices comprise hubs 31, 41,

51 and 61 from which radially extend horizontal spokelike surfacetreating elements, 32, 42, 52 and 62, respectively. The hubs 31, 41, 51,and 61 are mounted at their inner ends to shafts (not seen) which arejournaled to extend perpendicularly to the conveyor 2 along therespective edges of the conveyor. The treating devices are arranged intwo tandem pairs 3, 5 and 4, 6 respectively. The forward and reardevices of each of the tandem pairs are aligned along the correspondingedge of the conveyor while the corresponding individual forward and rearmembers of each tandem pair are aligned transversely to the direction ofthe conveyor along lines 10 and 12.

.Each device contains four surface treating elements 32, 42, 52 and 62which are mounted on holders above the surface of the conveyor and arereciprocably movable toward and away from the conveyor so that they mayswing about the shaft 4 in contact with a hide on conveyor. The shaftson which each of the devices are mounted are connected by suitablelinkages, gears, or other transmission means to individual or commondrives such as a motor, etc., so that they may be rotated in thedirections indicated by the arrows R3, R4, R5

and R6 respectively. The devices rotate in opposite directions to eachother, for example devices 3 and 6 rotate clockwise while devices 4 and5 rotate counterclockwise. Thus the forward devices 3 and 4 sweepcounter to each other forwardly with respect to the movement of theconveyor in a path outwardly to the right and left edges of the conveyorrespectively. The rear elements 5 and 6 sweep counter to each otherrearwardly with respect to the direction of movement of the conveyor andoutwardly to the right and left edges of the conveyor respectively. Thedirection of movement of the respective working elements are shown bythe arrows 33, 43, 53 and 63, respectively.

The length of each of the spoke-like elements 32, 42,

52, and 62 are chosen so that each is greater than half the width of theconveyor. Consequently opposed elements 32, 42, 52 and 62 overlap thecentral portion of the conveyor by an amount indicated by the arrowsB-B. Simultaneously the distances between the forward and the rearshafts of each pair of the devices 3, 5 and 4, 6 respectively are set sothat the spokes overlap along the axial direction of the conveyor asindicated .by the arrows C-C. The distance between the respective shaftson which the devices 3, 5 and 4, 6 are mounted may be adjusted so thatthis overlap C-C can be varied. Further, to avoid interference of therespective. working elements of each of the devices, the elements arerelatively offset so that as they rotate they mesh with each other ingear like fashion also as seen in FIG. 1.

The distance, i.e., the height of each of the elements above theconveyor may be adjusted by providing its supporting shaft with anaxially moveable journal, or a telescoping extension or other similarconventional means. Preferably, however, the distance above the conveyoris selected to provide for a predefined thickness in the finished sheetor hide.

The spoke-like treatment elements are provided with means so that theymaybe lowered and raised during each period of rotation. The elementsare moved downwardly toward the conveyor and into engagement with thehide ll when they each individually become located along the connectingtransverse line 10 or 12 respectively and move in this operativeposition in a horizontal plane, parallel to the conveyor and anengagement with the surface of the hide in an arcuate path 33, 43, 53and 63, respectively. Thus each of the elements is made to have anoperative movement in which the element engages the works the surface ofthe hide defined by the sector of a circle substantially equaltoonefourth of each rotation. As soon as the element completes sweepingof its operating sector, the element is caused to be raised to insureits separation from the hide and/or the conveyor and in this raisedposition is caused to complete the remaining three quarters of therotation. To accomplish this lowering and raising of the elements 32,42, 52 and 62, the elements may be operated by a circular cam as theyare caused to rotate by their mounting shafts.

In operation the hide is placed on the conveyor with the surface to betreated facing upwardly and the forward quarter of the hide place firstin the direction of movement of the conveyor with the hind quarterfacing upstream. In general the hide is arranged so that the centralback portion lies along the center of the conveyor or beneath theoverlapping section B-B. The hide may be positioned manually or byautomatic means such as an infeed conveyor, drop feed or the like. Theconveyor itself may be flat or may be provided with ridges, indents orother frictional holding means by which the hide may be securely heldduring the working operation. The conveyor and the spoke like elementsare continuously driven and rotated in a predefined relationship so thatthe working elements 32, 42, 52 and 62 may sweep over the hide in apredetermined and selected pattern while the hide is carried along bythe conveyor so that the surface of the hide may be worked over itsentire area.

The pattern of working of the hide is seen in FIG. 2. The-elements 32and 42 work the hide in a forward and outward arcuate pattern indicatedby the arrows 33 and 43 while the elements 51 and 61 work the hide in aarcuate pattern rearwardly and outwardly as seen by the arrows 53 and63. The respective patterns overlap and work the back of the hide alongthe section B-B and the overlapping axial portions CC. ln employing theapparatus, the method therefore provides that the constantly moving hideis worked by an array of elements which engage the surface of the hideinitially in a position normal to the direction of movement and eithermove with the direction of movement or contrary to the direction ofmovement'from within the thickened hide portion to its outwardperipheral edges. The paths of movement are in all cases portions of acircle and at most one-quarter sectors thereof. The working 'elementsalways go from the thickened portion of the hide wherein the hide ismore cohesive and strong to the outer peripheral edges conforming to theforward head and leg as well as the hind leg portions. As a consequence,the small extending portions of the hide are worked in the most properand efficient manner so that they cannot be folded over nor can they betorn from the main body of the hide itself.

By means of the above described apparatus and the the beginning of thesection being made only when the working tool is directly above majorportion of the hide and proceeds in a direction away from the majorportion to the periphery of the hide-The direction of the movement ofthe front treating elements is initially directed toward the directionof movement of the conveyer and then to the external peripheral portionsof the conveyer, ie., the hide. In this manner the danger of damagingeither the front or rear leg portions or any of the peripheral edges ofconveyer are obviated. Similarly the rear working elements are caused tooperate in a similar sector of the circle. The initial or beginningportion of the sector taking place only when the working element isdirectly above the major portion of the hide and the direction ofworking being such that the elements move to the rear initially and theyoutwardly. toward the peripheral edges of the hind quarter of the hide.In this manner the hind leg portions of the hide' are workedapproximately lengthwise of the axis of their shape which results inkeeping these parts from being torn or folded over during the workingoperating. The direction and treatment of each of the elements in Thisis the case as well with each of the aligned front and rear elements ofeach of the tandem pairs, thus in the embodiment as shown wherein'fourelements are provided, each of the elements appears to stand at thecorner of a rectangle and rotate about a verticle drawn through suchcomer. Thus the paths of movement are from within the rectangle towardthe exterior of the rectangle.

F 1G. 3 depicts schematically a type of apparatus for each of thetreatment devices which may be used in carrying out the presentinvention. Only one such treatment device 3 is shown in detail sincethey areessentially all the same. Fixed to the upper edgeof the hub 31and extending vertically of the device 3 is a shaft 100 which isjournalled for rotation about its central axisin a tubular housing,which is adjustably secured to the frame F of the machine. A sprocketwheel 101' is mounted on its upper end and is connected by a chain 102to asuitable drive means such as a motor orthe like. The chain may beconnected to the aligned treatmentdevice 5, if desired for commonoperation and its speed may be regulated by control of the motor, ortheuse of interpositioned sprocket or gear train. The shaft 100 isvertically positioned along the marginal edge of the conveyor 2 asearlier mentioned. Mounted to extend laterally of the hub 31 are aplurality of webs 103 at the outer end of which are verticallymountedhydraulic cylinders 104 from which a piston rod 105 extends;mounted at the end of the piston rod is a holder 106 to which thetreatment element 32 is removable secured by manually operable screwmeans 107. The holder 106 and element 32 are planar members arranged tobe perpendicular to the conveyor, as earlier described along the lineand to be fixed in that position at the end of the piston 7 so that theedge of the element 32 lies parallelto the plane of the conveyor, asseen in FIG. 3.

The hub 31 is hollow and fonns a reservoir 108 for hydraulic fluid.Surrounding the reservoir are four cyl-' inders 109. Each cylinder hasan inlet 110 communicating with the reservoir 108 and an outlet 111communicating with the upper end of one of the cylinders 104. A piston112 reciprocates within the cylinder 109 and has a rod 113 extendingupwardly alongside the shaft 6 100. A link 114 is fixed to the upper endof each rod and extending radially inwardly to the shaft 100. At the endof each link is a roller 115. Each cylinder 109 has a return spring 119which normally urges the piston 112 upwardly. A tension spring 118 ismountedbetween the web and each of the holders 107 tourge the holder 107normally upward.

The housing of the shaft 100 is itself surround by a housing 120 whichlatter housing is movable with respect to the shaft in a verticaldirection. A hydraulic pneumatic or similar motor 121 is provided toraise and lower the housing. Mounted at the lower end of the housing isa quarter circular cam 122 which is adapted to engage the roller 115 ofthe link 114.

The motor 121 may be controlled by a suitable relay system, memorysystem or sensing system, dependent upon the passage of a hide I overthe conveyor, and after a suitable interval to causethe housing 120to'be lowered and thereafter raised. 7

In operation the shaft 100 is rotated via actuation of chain102,-carrying the elements .32 to be swung about each of the tandempairs is in the opposite direction.

the central axis of shaft 'at the ends of the webs. On sensing thepassage of a hide or at a predefined interval, the motor 121 causes thehousing 120 to descend so that the quarter cam 122 engages he rollers l15. As the cam engages a roller that roller 115 causesthe piston 112 tobe depressed covering inlet and forcing fluid into conduit 111 thuscausing the corresponding element 32 to be lowered against the hideonthe conveyor. As the cam 122 leaves the roller the springs 109 cause thepiston 112 to riseallowing the fluid to return to the reservoir and theelement 32 to rise.

By arranging the cam 122 and the elements32, etc., in a predeterminedangular relationship, the operation of the present invention can beeasily effected whereby the elements 3, 4, 5 and 6 can be lowered alongthe transverse lines 10 and 12 respectively, so that no interferencewith the leading or trailing edges of the work piece occur, and theoperation is obtained as previously described.

The treating elements may bein the form of spreaders, scrapers or knivesas conventional and one may be easily replaced with the other. As isalso conventional, spray means for the moisture treatment or coating ofthe hide may be employed simultaneously with the mechanical treatment.

As a result of the method and apparatus of the present invention thehide is treated with less force and consequently is distorted anddestroyed to a lesser degree. As a result the hide has improved quality.This holds true even for hides having very irregularshapes. Furthermore,because of the overlapping arrangements of the working element insections B--B and C-C, the hide is worked to a more uniformed degree anda uniform thicknes leather is obtained. Additionally the workingelements engage the entire surface of the leather so that a regularsurface throughout the entire area of the leather is performed. This ismost significant with respect to the peripheral portions of the leatherand especially the leg parts which prior devices were never capable ofbeing automatically treated in a regular fashion.

Various changes and modifications may be made to the method as well asto the apparatus. Some of these changes have been suggested in thepresent disclosure, others will be obvious to those skilled in the art.The present disclosure therefore is to be taken as illustrative only andnot limiting of the scope of application of the present invention.

What is claimed:

1. A method for the surface treatment of discontinuous sheet materialsuch as an animal hide comprising the steps of carrying said material ona continuously moving linear conveyer, providing a pair of workingdevices in tandem along one side of said conveyer, locating each devicein said tandem pair in a horizontal plane spaced from the conveyer torotate about an axis perpendicular to the conveyor and aligned with theedge thereof, rotating the working device upstream of said conveyorcounter to the direction of movement of said conveyor, rotating theworking device downstream of said conveyor in the direction of movementof said conveyor, and causing said devices to engage the materialinitially at a line normal to the direction of movement of said conveyerand thereafter maintaining such engagement in a sector of the circlealong an arcuate path toward the edge of said one side of said conveyor.

2. The mthod according to claim 1 wherein each of said working devicescomprise a plurality of working elements uniformly arranged about thecentral axis and extending radially therefrom so as to successivelyengage the material.

3. The method according to claim 2 providing two pair of tandem workingdevices, arranging the devices of the second pair to rotate about axesaligned with the edge of said conveyor opposite to the first of thetandem pair, causing each of said devices in said second pair to engagea portion of the material at a line normal to the direction of movementof said conveyer and thereafter in a sector of circle along an arcuatepath toward the outer edge of said conveyer.

4. The method according to claim 3 wherein each of the working devicesis caused to rotate in a direction opposite to that of its next adjacentdevice.

5. The method according to claim 3 wherein the corresponding devices ineach of the first and second pairs are aligned along an axis transverseto the direction of movement of said conveyer and are caused to rotatein opposite directions.

6. Apparatus for the surface treatment of a discontinuous sheet ofmaterial such as an animal hide or the like comprising a linear movingconveyer, at least one pair of working devices arranged in tandem alongone side of said conveyer, means for rotatably mounting said device in ahorizontal plane spaced from said conveyer, means for rotating theupstream one of said devices counter to the direction of movement ofsaid conveyor and the downstream one of said devices in the direction ofmovement of said conveyor, and means for causing said devices toengagethe material on said conveyer initially along a line normal to thedirection of movement of said conveyer and to remain in engagementthereafter in a sector of a circle along respective arcuate paths towardthe edge of said conveyer.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 including two pair of devices eachpair being arranged respectively along one side of the conveyor.

1. A method for the surface treatment of discontinuous sheet materialsuch as an animal hide comprising the steps of carrying said material ona continuously moving linear conveyer, providing a pair of workingdevices in tandem along one side of said conveyer, locating each devicein said tandem pair in a horizontal plane spaced from the conveyer torotate about an axis perpendicular to the conveyor and aligned with theedge thereof, rotating the working device upstream of said conveyorcounter to the direction of movement of said conveyor, rotating theworking device downstream of said conveyor in the direction of movementof said conveyor, and causing said devices to engage the materialinitially at a line normal to the direction of movement of said conveyerand thereafter maintaining such engagement in a sector of the circlealong an arcuate path toward the edge of said one side of said conveyor.2. The mthod according to claim 1 wherein each of said working devicescomprise a plurality of working elements uniformly arranged about thecentral axis and extending radially therefrom so as to successivelyengage the material.
 3. The method according to claim 2 providing twopair of tandem working devices, arranging the devices of the second pairto rotate about axes aligned with the edge of said conveyor opposite tothe first of the tandem pair, causing each of said devices in saidsecond pair to engage a portion of the material at a line normal to thedirection of movement of said conveyer and thereafter in a sector ofcircle along an arcuate path toward the outer edge of said conveyer. 4.The method according to claim 3 wherein each of the working devices iscaused to rotate in a direction opposite to that of its next adjacentdevice.
 5. The method according to claim 3 wherein the correspondingdevices in each of the first and second pairs are aligned along an axistransverse to the direction of movement of said conveyer and are causedto rotate in opposite directions.
 6. Apparatus for the surface treatmentof a discontinuous sheet of material such as an animal hide or the likecomprising a linear moving conveyer, at least one pair of wOrkingdevices arranged in tandem along one side of said conveyer, means forrotatably mounting said device in a horizontal plane spaced from saidconveyer, means for rotating the upstream one of said devices counter tothe direction of movement of said conveyor and the downstream one ofsaid devices in the direction of movement of said conveyor, and meansfor causing said devices to engage the material on said conveyerinitially along a line normal to the direction of movement of saidconveyer and to remain in engagement thereafter in a sector of a circlealong respective arcuate paths toward the edge of said conveyer.
 7. Theapparatus according to claim 6 including two pair of devices each pairbeing arranged respectively along one side of the conveyor.